Simple Things You Can Do To Bring On The Smiles.

It is so easy to make them smile, it is so easy to make others glow! Life is so simple but we make them so complicated, so disruptive, so stressful and so difficult for ourselves and for others.

Just the simple act of not talking back brings on the smiles as it creates a congenial atmosphere where conflicts, arguments and verbal tirades are kept to a minimum. But we tend to do more of the opposite – we shoot back immediately as soon as we hear of things that differ from what we hold to be true or believe.

Simple Things are enough to bring on the Smiles!

Young dads and moms, how do feel, what are your reactions and responses when your little treasures smile at you and you see them happy? Do your hearts swell with joy and the glow in them lasts for hours? Don’t they make you feel cheerful and keep you in an expansive mood for hours? I am sure they do and I am also sure you enjoy the exhilarating feelings these smiles and their happiness provide.

Do your Parents Deserve the Cold Shoulder Treatment?

Are you being carried away by your new-found friends, new-found jobs or new-found interests, have you been distracted by your new-found wealth, successes, achievements or your new-found girlfriends? Or do you think your recent tiffs, disagreements or arguments with your parents give you the appropriate excuse to avoid your basic filial duty? Are you just taking advantage of your recent anger, unhappiness and disappointment with your parents to avoid spending time with them on this festive occasion?

Chinese New Year – Auspicious and Propitious.

To people of Chinese origin, no matter where they are in the world, the Chinese New Year is a very special occasion. To them, this day has special auspiciousness and it holds propitious properties. If  their hopes and dreams are made on such an occasion, the chances of them materializing are said to be better.

Everyone has hopes and dreams, so you can safely say every Chinese offers prayers,  makes new wishes and dreams new dreams on this auspicious day. The foremost wish heads of Chinese households usually make is that their families be blessed with good health, good luck and good fortune during the whole year. Each occasion they will take to petition without fail when the Chinese New Year Day comes around.

Life, Prayers, Hope, Recovery, Happiness.

The Chinese New Year is just 3 days away. To the Chinese,  this is a day packed with thousands of years of cultural traditions. In most Chinese households around the world, preparations are being made to hold reunion dinners on the Eve of the auspicious day.

Which household does not look forward to such happy reunion dinners.  But sadly, some families will not be able to enjoy the warm, love, laughter, the gaiety and the joy that such dinners usually offer.

Inauguration and High Hopes.

Tzu Chi’s Recycling Program – what it means to me.

Many may wonder what is so unusual in a simple act of recycling. It is just a mere act of collecting waste from the environment, sorting it and then exchanging it for money. Your catch-phrase –  ’turning waste into gold’ – seems to confirm this view.

Calling all my friends in America, Canada and Europe.

You all are facing a bitterly cold winter this year. How are all of you, I cannot do much to relieve you of the immense discomfort but I want to let you know I care.

Keep your spirits up and if it helps to talk to someone , do feel free to write me.

BLESS YOU ALL !

Come visit again, thank you.

Dazzled and mesmerized by Citibank’s Success.

Before this financial meltdown, Citibank was viewed as the ultimate in the banking circle. Many people looked up to it in awe for its prowess, its might and its dexterity in capturing a big chunk of the financial market for itself. In boardrooms across the world praises were sung in admiration. Many envied its prominent position and were dying to emulate its abilities and expertise.

The Vultures, the schemers, the ’show-offs, the naive, the caring and others

If you are working  you bound to have others working alongside you or working under you. It would not take too long for you to find out that there are many different types of  personalities as there are of different species of fishes in the sea.

I will try to name the different types of personalities that make life so interesting and at times so frustrating.

Vietnam – recovering nicely … the last day

The breakfast on the last day of our tour was a leisurely one as there was no fixed itinerary. We headed to a market near our hotel after the breakfast to do some last minute shopping. An Dong market has a wide range of things to entice you to part with your money. There are clothing, cloths, souvenirs, dried foods and fruits, gold and cheap jeweleries, and it even has stores serving meals. This seems a favorite place of the Asian tourists as they could get sea-cucumbers and other Asian delicacies.

A Heart of Stone?

Cholera attacks the country killing more than 2,000 of the Zambabwe’s  young and old and the death toll is still climbing, yet Mugabe could choose to go overseas with his family for a holiday!

It was reported in the CNN yesterday that Mugabe had just got back from Malaysia where he and his family members had gone for a sojourn. I find this hard to fathom – a leader of one of the poorest nations in the world where its families are  suffering extreme poverty and the consequent hunger going oversea to enjoy a vacation with his family. He must have delusions that he has been working hard for his fellow-Zambabweans and needed a rest.  Just wonder what is Mugabe’s heart made of???

You consider yourself fortunate?

For those who consider themselves fortunate, there is an unforeseen opportunity opened to you in this grim economic environment . This is an unplanned and unexpected opening for us to extend much needed help to the truly deserving.

When times were good, when everything was bright and rosy, when the mood was sanguine and the environment cheerful and optimistic, donations in money and in kind were easy to come by for these deserving organizations which provide care, money and food for the less fortunate.  These caregivers depend largely on public support for their very existence. They would normally received more than enough for their operation.

Vietnam Tour – Recovering nicely – Day Six

We woke up on the morning of the sixth day of our tour at Vung Tau. Before breakfast I took a stroll on the beach hoping to catch some photographic opportunities. I was happy I found some opportunities:

Vietnam Tour – Day Five

Our fifth day in Vietnam turned out to be the 25th. of December, that is right Christmas Day.

This is the day the Christian world celebrates the birth of the Prince of Peace and here we were in Vietnam visiting the battleground of the Vietnam War. Our tourist guide must have a keen sense of history. I didn’t mind as it gave me something worthwhile to contemplate.

The sad fact states that the fatal casualties recorded in this war is 58,159, – a senseless waste of human lives.

These above photos show the intricate underground system devised by the Viet Congs to camouflage their movements and to conceal their whereabouts from the adversaries. These tunnels allowed them to move around the area without detection, even from the air.

The photos preceding this sentence, show the booby traps set up by the North Vietnamese army in their fields  to catch their adversaries unaware and to paralyze them.

These photos show the entrance, the mid section and the exit of the underground tunnel. We took a short tunnel that only took us about 5 minutes to go through. There are longer tunnels, the short ones are for tourists who may not have the stamina and are claustrophobic. The scrunching position required to move in these tunnels can be very demanding and tiring.

The photo on the left shows the kitchen cum dinner area for the soldiers.  This is only a resemblance of the ones built underground. The middle photo shows the ‘boots’ wore by the North Vietnamese army. These are made out of used tires of vehicles. You can now buy them as tourist items. The photo  on the right shows the operating table used during the war time for the seriously wounded. That was all they could managed.

This little mountain of earth hides the air-circulating system of the underground tunnels. Air flows in and out of the holes made inside these little mountains. See the smoke coming out of the gaps in the  snapshot on the right. Smokes from the cooking was emitted through such gaps made in parts of the forests. All these are well-planned out to conceal the existence of the tunnels. Ingenious!

Come visit again. Thank you.

Vietnam Tour – Day Four

It was Christmas Eve, when we left Hanoi to fly to Ho Chi Minh City. Before the then South Vietnam fell to its Northern compatriots the city was known as Saigon.

It may have been because of the American influence Ho Chi Minh City was all spruced up to celebrate Christmas. All the major hotels and the streets of the shopping area were all well lighted up and beautifully decorated.

Some time back the major form of transportation was the bicycles but now motor-bikes has taken over the roads. Another thing one can’t fail to notice in Ho Chi Minh City is the big mass of dangling telephone wires in every street.

In the early evening, the Vietnam National Football Team has beaten The Thai National Team in a footbal match. This turned the occasion into a double celebration – Christmas Eve and national soceer victory. The streets were taken over by celebrating youths who rode their motor-bikes speeding down streets waving the Vietnamese National flags and shouting at the top of their voices. The roar from the engines was deafening, and it really gave the night a very festive atmosphere.

Come visit again. Thank you.

Vietnam Tour – Day Three

On this day we went up a junk to cruise the Ha Long Bay. This cruise is a major tourist activity, there  are numerous junks at the bay ready to take tourists on the tour. Lunch is part of the package of such tours. And there are others which offer nigh stay on-board the junks.

We were told Vietnam has 1969 of such lime stone islands. Vietnam has a very long coast line.

Our trip took up six hours, during which we were brought to the floating platoons where fresh fishes and prawns were sold. The food can be bought and took up the junk to be cooked and served for lunch.

We saw some very nice natural scenery of the sea fills with lime-stone islands and littered with junks and small fishing boats. The snapshots taken turned out to look like paintings.

We climbed up the limestone hills to visit the Thien Cung and Dau Go Caves. Over time nature has crafted some artistic pieces of work in these two caves. It has sculptured some fascinating and beautiful pieces to let your imagination run wild. We climbed Titop Hill to take in the panoramic view of the Bay.

In the evening, we took in a dance performance in which traditional village dances were highlighted. A water puppet show followed. This is quite unique as it portrayed Vietnamese way of life in the rural areas. The artists are very skillful. I appreciate their stamina as they do their work under water.

Hope you get to enjoy Vietnam.

Come visit again. Thank you.

Vietnam – photos of the tour

Another new month, another set of photographs for the ‘Flickr’ set. I have posted the snapshots taken during my tour of Vietnam during the Christmas season. Hope they give you the same pleasure I got taking them.

Vietnam is a beautiful country, the impression I got of the people is that they are peaceful and are not too demanding. It seems odd that this country was engaged in a internal strife of thirty odd years.

If you were to visit Vietnam don’t leave the War Memorial out of your itinerary.  The devastation of the country and the sufferings inflicted on the nation and the people were atrocious. I don’t know who was right and who was wrong but I definitely would not wish it upon any nation and any group of people.

Don’t miss the Cu Chi Tunnels, experience going down it and see for yourself the intricate system devised by the Viet Congs.

The Tam Coc sampan ride and the Ha Long Bay junk ride should be experienced.  The natural scenes are nature’s gift to Vietnam. I hope Vietnam has the determination and will to preserve them.

One thing the government of Vietnam can do to beautify its cities is to do away with all the hanging telephone wire lines. As the country gets more industrialized and the people get more affluence, the numerous motor-bikes will give way to cars. So, pollution of the air will be a major concern.

Oh yes, don’t forget to taste the Vietnam coffee and if you were to buy some to bring home, learn the correct way to serve it. Taste the seasonal fruits , too, they are nice.

Wish you the luck!

Come visit again. Thank you.

Vietnam Tour – A country recovering – Day Two (2)

The photos in this row are areas covered under the Ho Chi Minh’s Complex. The first photo is of HCM’s museum. The whole complex is worth visiting.